And God Made the Two Great Luminaries

Genesis 1:16



- this is the WA conversive plus the third masculine singular qal imperfect from the verb ’ASAH with the masculine plural noun ‘ELOHIM, meaning “And God made.” This is a reference to God the Holy Spirit.

- this is the sign of the direct object with the particle SHENAYIM, meaning “two.”

- this is the definite article HA with the masculine plural noun MA’OR plus the definite article and masculine plural noun GADOL, which means “the luminaries, the great ones.” In Hebrew grammar the adjective follows the noun and repeats the definite article to indicate definiteness and modification of the noun. It is translated “the two great luminaries.”

“And God made the two great luminaries,”

- this is the sign of the direct object plus the definite article and the masculine singular noun MA’OR and the definite article and adjective GADOL, meaning “the great luminary.”

- this is the preposition LE with the feminine singular construction noun MEMSHALAH, which means “for dominion over, authority over.”

- this is the definite article and masculine singular noun YOM, meaning “the day.”

“And God made the two great luminaries, the great luminary for dominion over the day”

- this is the conjunction WE with the sign of the direct object plus the definite article HA and the masculine singular noun MA’OR plus the definite article and masculine singular adjective QATON, meaning “and the small luminary.”

- this is the preposition LE with the feminine singular construction noun MEMSHALAH, which means “for dominion over, authority over.”

- this is the definite article and the masculine singular noun LAYLAH, meaning “the night.”

- this is the conjunctive use of WE with the sign of the direct object and the definite article with the masculine plural noun KOKAB, meaning “and the stars.”

Gen 1:16 corrected translation

“And God made the two great luminaries, the great luminary for dominion over the day and the small luminary for dominion over the night, and the stars.”

Explanation:

1. God the Holy Spirit makes the sun and the moon out of existing materials in the universe.

a. This is not the same as the original creation of the universe by our Lord Jesus Christ.

b. The Holy Spirit takes some of the matter, which already exists in the universe and makes the sun and the moon.

2. The sun has authority over the daytime and the moon has authority to give light over the nighttime.

3. There is complete authority in God’s system throughout His system. This includes even as to which bodies of light will give the most light during the day and during the night.

a. Authority is a central issue in the angelic conflict.

b. Therefore, God makes authority an issue throughout the universe, even in the material creation.

c. The sun and the moon are a daily witness to every person who has ever lived that God establishes authority as an issue in His creation.

d. The sun and the moon are a daily reminder to Satan and the fallen angels that they rejected the authority of God.

4. The stars are a part of the original creation by our Lord Jesus Christ and are included at the end of this verse to indicate that they too provide light during the night. This verse does not teach that God the Holy Spirit created the stars as a part of the restoration of the universe for man’s occupancy of planet earth.

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